Canadian business leader says he wouldn't bet on mutual funds if he could do it again

Adena Ali, Chase Producer, BNN

Billionaire Michael Lee-Chin's role in growing Jamaica's economy

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Billionaire Michael Lee-Chin said if he were to start his career all over again he would not bet on the mutual fund industry.

In an interview on BNN, Lee-Chin said wealth is created by taking advantage of the “illiquidity discount,” and if he were starting his business right now, he would focus on emphasizing to his clients why they should be taking advantage of that discount versus playing the markets “will-nilly” and paying a liquidity premium.

“We are drunk on the liquidity drug, but you don’t create any wealth with that drug”, he said.

Lee-Chin is one of Canada's most prominent business leaders, who made his fortune in the wealth management and mutual fund industry, acquiring and transforming a small Canadian company into a mutual fund powerhouse in the 1990s. He is currently executive chairman of Portland Holdings, creating wealth for investors.

Lee-Chin is also working to grow the economy of his native Jamaica, which has been challenged for the past several years. He has made sizeable investments in that country, most noticeably through his stake in the country's National Commercial Bank.

“[Jamaica has potential to be] the logistics and financial hub of the western hemisphere,” he said.